There’s a polite word
When someone finds a really polite word for a situation, I’m left tongue-tied. I mean, we all do it, unless we’ve missed the chapter on living with others in society, but once in a while, the skill of locution “jumps the shark”. This afternoon, while listening to Rex (solving the problems of the world), a pedagogue took the stage. In one word, he summed up the whole of any undergraduate class. The word: disengaged.
It would seem that not everyone in school belongs there. Small surprise; some of us have seen that one since back in grade one. The kid who does corner duty. The one who rolls out the window and heads home instead of sitting through yet another detention (I remember that incident as if it was yesterday). In fact, all the way through public school there were examples, with the rationale that all children shall be schooled until the age of majority.
But what about the next level? When we examine the university results, many students take “too long” to complete the requirements for a degree. What we called, politely, the “five year plan” when I was enrolled. Now, these same students are “disengaged”. Taking up a seat without effort, because they can. Either the money is available, or the pressure from below is intense. Students are not achieving, or excelling. They are in a state of, well, floatation.
The program this afternoon discussed various factors. Marks that have been “pushed upward” so that a B is borderline. People enrolling without any sense of direction. Pressure to keep tuition fees down, at least here in Quebec, so that underachieving has no fiscal penalty. And on, and on. No panacea was offered, but the question has seen the light of day. Let’s continue to work on this one. Remove the need for a Weale-deal.
